The Gophers volleyball team will open the season ranked in the top 10th for the seventh year in a row.
Gophers volleyball ranked No. 7 in AVCA preseason poll
It's the seventh year in a row that the Gophers' volleyball team opened the season ranked in the Top 10 by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
August 17, 2021 at 5:37AM
Coach Hugh McCutcheon's team was ranked seventh in the preseason American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, which was released Monday.
The Gophers are coming off a 16-3 spring season, when they earned the No. 3 national seed in the NCAA tournament but lost in five sets to Pitt in the Sweet 16. Reigning Big Ten Player of the Year Stephanie Samedy returns, as do 10 other letterwinners from the spring.
The Gophers are one of six Big Ten ranked teams, joining No. 2 Wisconsin, No. 5 Nebraska, No. 8 Purdue, No. 11 Ohio State and No. 12 Penn State. Overall, 13 of the Gophers' 27 schedule games are against teams ranked in the preseason poll, including against No. 14 Oregon and No. 21 Stanford in Eugene, Ore., on Sept. 10 and 11.
The Gophers will lose senior setter Melani Shaffmaster, but they don’t expect players to leave via the transfer portal.
